World War II Flashcards

Potential Problems with Glamorizing WWII

• Oversimplification:

  • Movies and games often focus on action and heroism, which can ignore the complex causes and consequences of the war.

• Inaccuracy:

  • To make things more dramatic, some stories change facts or ignore certain groups and perspectives (e.g., colonial soldiers, the Soviet front, or the role of women and minorities).

• Desensitization:

  • When war becomes just entertainment, especially in games, people may forget the real human suffering behind those events.

• Example: Jojo Rabbit

Totalitarianism and Dictators

• Totalitarianism:

  • Form of government controlled by a strong central system, usually with a dictator.

  • Complete obedience from people (TOTAL CONTROL)

• Dictator:

  • A ruler/leader who wields absolute, unchecked power.

  • Examples today?

The Major Players: Japan

• Hideki Tojo

  • Militarism

    • Extreme Nationalism

    • Military control of civilian government

    • Territorial expansion to obtain raw materials

The Major Players: Italy

• Benito Mussolini:

  • Fascism

    • Country first, individual liberty second

    • Featured Extreme nationalism

    • Whole country indoctrination

The Major Players: Soviet Union

• Joseph Stalin

  • Communism

    • State control of all aspects of life; citizens share wealth

    • Brutally eliminates all competition to maintain control

The Major Players: Germany

• Mad about Versailles Treaty that ended WWI

• Economic Depression

  • Adolf Hitler: Nazism/Facism

    • Extreme nationalism and racism (“master race”)

    • Civil Liberties abolished

Treaty of Versailles and WWII

• World War I: 1914-1918

  • Treaty of Versailles signed, ending WWI

• World War II: 1939-1945

  • Some nations (specifically France) demanded Germany be punished severely for WWI when the Treaty was being created.

  • Because of this, Germans felt anger and resentment towards the rest of Europe after 1918…

  • The Nazi party convinced many Germans to follow them by promising to get revenge for the Treaty + make Germany powerful again.

U.S. Road to War

• WWII officially starts September 1939, when Germany invades Poland, but the U.S. is not a part of it.

• Lend-Lease Act (March 1941): U.S starts providing foreign aid to allies, including the Soviet Union

  • June 1941: Hitler attacks the Soviet Union

• August 1941: U.S and Great Britain leaders (Roosevelt, Churchill) meet

Escalating Tension w/Japan

• Meanwhile… conflict felt inevitable with Japan…

  1. Japan was getting aggressive in Asia (U.S. not supportive)

  2. America put economic and trade restrictions on Japan as punishment (Oil the biggest issue)

  3. Japan felt the need to strike first…

Attack on Pearl Harbor: December 7th, 1941

To War…

• Congress declares war on Japan hours after speech

• Hitler declares war on America without consultation 4 days after Pearl Harbor (The U.S. returns favor)

• The U.S. is now at war…

Propaganda

• Definition: A specific message designed to influence the behaviors, opinions, and attitudes of people/citizens……

• THE ESSENCE OF PROPAGANDA

  • Stereotypes are at the heart of all propaganda efforts.

  • Their purpose is to create the perception that our actions are always ethical and honorable, while those of our opponents are always unethical and dishonorable.

Walt Disney’s “Der Fuehrer’s Face”

1. Are there any groups of Americans who might be particularly affected by this propaganda?

2. Why do you think the creators made this cartoon?

Propaganda Writing

• In groups: pick 5 of the images on your document and answer the corresponding questions after examining the propaganda posters.

• Each question corresponds to the slide number. You may share this document. Please list everyone in your group.

• Be sure to look at the rules for #11. Your group poster must be original work!

The 2 Sides

• The Allies

  • France

  • America

  • Britain

  • Soviet Union

• The Axis

  • Japan

  • Italy

  • Germany

Determining War Strategy

• Many Americans only goal was to get revenge on Japan

• Despite this, in the ABC-1 Agreement, US agreed to “Beat Hitler First” strategy

  • Knew we could never win the war unless we defeated Hitler first

  • Sent most troops to Europe, just enough to the Pacific to stop the Japanese offensive

Mobilizing the Homefront: The Economy

• Effect on the Economy

  • Unemployment Rate

    • 19.2% in 1938

    • 1.2 % in 1944

• Wartime production officially ended the Great Depression

• War Production Board: Established to coordinate production of war materials

• Halted production of nonessential materials

• Imposed national speed limit to conserve rubber (35 MPH)

Rationing During World War II

• War Production Board puts an end to automobile sales temporarily

• Companies stop producing as many consumer goods, and focus on war goods

• Americans receive stamp books and ration key items needed for War Effort

  • Gasoline

  • Canned food

  • Textiles (clothes)

Women in WWII

• Benefited from huge demand for labor because of wartime production

• Many American women entered workforce for first time

  • “Rosie the Riveter”—icon of women worker

  • Women told it was their patriotic duty to work

  • Over 6 million women entered the workforce

• Women who worked before the war were able to get better paying jobs when war began

Did Women’s Roles Really Change?

• Men continued to dominate supervisory positions

• Women still paid less

• Women forced out of the workforce after the war.

  • 1950s: Women return to role of housewives in suburbs

• Women veterans were not recognized for benefits until 1979.

Race in World War II

• Soldiers of color enlisted, but in segregated units

• Many of these units were the most decorated of the war:

  • African-Americans: Tuskegee Airmen

  • Mexican-Americans: Company E of the 141st Regiment

  • Japanese Americans: 442nd Regimental Combat Team

  • Native-Americans: Served in Marine Corps as Navajo Code Talkers

Road to D-Day

• The U.S was focused in 1944 to push Germany back in Europe

  • Operation Overlord: The name given for the allied invasion of German occupied France.

• Allies felt that if they could break into German-controlled Northern France, the war would turn in their favor…

Road to D-Day: Myths

1. Only the U.S. fought in the invasion of Normandy (13 countries do)

2. The Germans were better trained than Allied soldiers.

3. The beach storming was the only part of the attack

Road to D-Day - The Plan

• Operation Neptune:

  • Largest water invasion ever

• Operation Fortitude: The U.S. used deception to throw off Germans

• Beach attack preceded by bombings and troop landings behind enemy lines by the 101st Airborne

Side Note: D-Day Rehearsal: Operation Tiger

• One of a series of large-scale rehearsals for the D-Day invasion of Normandy.

  • (It was an absolute s*** show)

• Coordination and communication problems resulted in friendly fire injuries during the exercise.

  • An Allied convoy positioning itself for the landing was attacked by German E-boats

  • Resulted in the deaths of at least 749 American servicemen

D-Day Aftermath

• Despite initial setbacks, allies successfully establish themselves in Normandy, France

• A giant blow for Germany

  • Had to bring troops over from war in the east

  • Psychologically crushing

• Germany’s reign is beginning to end…

Fall of Germany (April/May 1945)

• Allies come from west, Soviet Union come from east - Soviets get to Berlin first

  • War crimes by Soviet soldiers committed against German citizens

• Hitler commits suicide on April 30, 1945

• Germany surrenders May 7, 1945, ending the War in Europe.

Victory! (sort of)

• 3 million allied casualties in the Western Front alone

• 1.65 million civilians dead

• The Holocaust begins to be uncovered

• War in the Pacific (Japan) continues…

The Holocaust: What was it?

• Between 1939-1945, Nazi Germany systematically executed 11 million people across Europe

• Holocaust –state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi Party

• Approximately 6 million were Jewish as well as those of color, Catholics, homosexuals, communists and Gypsies

Why the hate?

• Adolf Hitler’s book Mein Kampf (1926), blamed Jews for their defeat in WWI and economic problems

• Aryan Race: Hitler’s idea of a perfect race - Full German blood, blond hair, blue eyes

• Anti-Semitism: Political, social, and economic agitation against Jews i.e. ‘Hatred of Jews’

Nuremberg Laws and Kristallnacht

• Nuremberg Laws: Passed in 1935, removed Jewish citizenship, Banned marriage between Jews and Germans, and forced them to wear the star of David.

• Kristallnacht (night of broken glass): Nov, 1938 - Nazi troops attack Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues in Germany.

Nazi Persecution of the Jews

• Between 1933 and 1939, about 350,000 Jews escaped Nazi Germany.

• Many fled to the U.S.

  • Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein, Henry Kissinger Escaping Nazi-Controlled Germany

Relocation and Final Solution

• Jews were ordered to “Ghettos” (segregated areas)

• Jan. 20, 1942, Nazi leaders decide on the “final solution” to the Jewish problem.

  • Round up Jews; other “undesirables”

  • elderly, sick, and young children were sent to extermination camps.

• Starting in Poland, Nazi officials begin mass genocide of the Jewish population.

Concentration/Death Camps

• Nazis create forced labor camps

  • Worked to death

  • Inhumane conditions

  • Those too weak were killed

• Final Stage (1942-1945)

  • 6 death camps in Poland

  • Horrific medical experiments

  • Introduce poison gas

  • Killed up to 6,000/day

  • Crematoriums (ovens) to burn dead

Aftermath of the War in Europe

• Nuremberg Trials:

  • Allies hold war war crime trials for many Nazi leaders

Mindsets After Pearl Harbor

• Japan

  • U.S. will shrink under further conflict

  • U.S. reduced to a minor threat

• United States

  • Remember Pearl Harbor!

  • United as One (entire Congress votes for war*)

  • You woke a sleeping giant

Homework Review: Choices by the Government After Pearl Harbor

• Executive Order 9066 (Feb 19, 1942)

  • Allows for internment of thousands of Japanese Americans in restrictive camps inside the U.S.

• Supreme Court ruled against Fred Korematsu (born in Oakland, CA) in December 1944, who challenged having to go to a camp in court.

• 1988: US officially apologized and paid $20,000 in reparations

Japanese Internment

1. What issues were going on with Japanese Americans before Pearl Harbor?

2. Two-thirds of those in the camps were….?

3. How many Japanese-Americans served in the war?

4. What % of Americans wanted to allow Japanese people back to their homes after the war?

The Pacific - Early Challenges

• Early on (late 1941-early 1942), things do not go well for allies

  • Gen. Douglas MacArthur (commander of all forces in the Pacific) loses Manilla in the Philippines

  • Japan pushes forward in early 1942 as they please

• However…Americans are determined and angry

  • Allies secure a key victory at Midway (June 1942)

    • Battle of Midway is considered a major turning point in the Pacific

The Pacific - Overcoming Challenges

• Throughout 1943, America’s industry and mass quantity of supplies begins to overpower Japan

• Despite losing, Japan does not back down (Kamikaze attacks and “never surrender” mentality)

• Iwo Jima:

  • U.S: 110,000 troops

  • Japanese: 20,000 troops

    • (all Japanese soldiers are killed or missing) The iconic flag raising at Iwo Jima

Background on the Atomic Bomb

• America had “won” war in Pacific, but Japan would NOT back down, forcing Americans to keep fighting, bombing, dying…

• In July 1945, American successfully tests a nuclear bomb in New Mexico via the Manhattan Project led by Robert J. Oppenheimer

• President Harry Truman (FDR died in April 1945) must decide…

  • Invade Japan, and continue WWII?

  • Unleash nuclear power?

Truman makes the decision

• Japan denies an offer for unconditional surrender by the U.S.

• August 6 and August 9, 1945…

  • Hiroshima: 90-120K killed by December…

    • Bomb Name: Little Boy

  • Nagasaki: 60-80K killed by Dec…

    • Bomb Name: Fat Man

• Japan surrenders on August 15, 1945

• Debate continues today on the decision to unleash nuclear power…

Aftermath of the War

• Forming of superpowers

  • United States (democratic) + Soviet Union (communist) last two countries “standing” after WWII - will compete for years to come in the Cold War

• Creation of the United Nations (1945)

  • Goal: maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations

• Nuremberg Trials:

  • Allies hold war crime trials for many Nazi leaders